protest

Ukrainians and supporters of Ukraine gather on the steps of Burlington City Hall to protest against Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

A group from Boston march down Church Street to protest the events in Tigray, Ethiopia and raise awareness to the atrocities taking place there.

"The night after the US election, on November 4th 2020, Abiy Ahmed, Nobel prize winner and Prime Minister of Ethiopia, started bombing Mekele, the capital city of Tigray in the North of Ethiopia. There was quickly a shut down of all communications, no internet, no electricity and no media allowed into the region, a region of over 6 million people. This bombing campaign, quickly escalated, with Ethiopian troops taking the city, followed by neighbouring Eritrea invading with reports of razed refugee camps, looting, sexual violence, massacres and extrajudicial killings. Many more have fled to Sudan, in what the United Nations has called the worst exodus of refugees from Ethiopia seen in two decades. They describe a disastrous conflict that's given rise to ethnic violence.

The region of Tigray has been under siege for months now. No humanitarian aid is being allowed in. Hundreds of thousands of people have died and are slowly dying of starvation. 90% of hospitals and clinics have been destroyed. Local people here in Vermont, with ties to Tigray, report family members who have been kidnapped and tortured by Eritrean troops, and others getting messages out of the country saying they have no food and no money to take care of their children. The Tigray Defence Force are now marching on Addis Ababa with the hope of capturing the city and ousting Abiy Ahmed from power."

Rally calling on the Biden administration to cancel construction of Line 3 just as it revoked the permit for the KXL Pipeline, and major banks like Chase and TD Bank to stop funding the project.

The rally includes live music and food prepared by the People’s Kitchen as well as speakers from across Vermont who have returned home from Minnesota where they were working to STOP LINE 3.

This event is sponsored by: 350VT, Essex Resists, Extinction Rebellion VT, People’s Kitchen, Upper Valley Affinity Group, VT Interfaith Power and Light,
VT Peace and Justice Center and the Institute for Social Ecology.

WHAT IS LINE 3?

1. LINE 3 is a tar sands pipeline starting from First Nations territory in Alberta, Canada and finally traveling through more than 300 miles of Indigenous treaty land across Minnesota on its way east to the Enbridge refinery in Superior, Wisconsin.
2. The tar sands crude carried by LINE 3 is the filthiest, most corrosive and polluting oil there is.
3. LINE 3 is being built to carry more than 800,000 barrels of tar sands crude every day, making it comparable to the defunct KXL pipeline.
4. LINE 3 is being built by ENBRIDGE, the Canadian pipeline giant notorious for causing more severe pipeline accidents than any of its competitors in an industry famous for dangerous accidents.
5. In 2010, an ENBRIDGE pipeline spilled 840,000 gallons of tar sands oil into the Kalamazoo River. The EPA reports that 160,000 gallons of the oil from this spill can never be recovered.
6. Pollution Control officials in Minnesota are now investigating spills of toxic pipeline drilling fluids into at least 28 waterways and wetlands along the LINE 3 route.
7. Construction of LINE 3 has destroyed and will continue to destroy sacred Indigenous sites and traditional wild rice harvest locations.
8. Dozens of Indigenous led LINE 3 Water Protectors have been arrested and held, often brutally, by county and municipal police paid by ENBRIDGE.
9. Man Camps that house pipeline crews are linked to drug crime, human trafficking and the disappearance and murder of Native women.
10. TD BANK is a major lender, making construction of LINE 3 possible. It is also the world’s 5th largest owner of ENBRIDGE shares.
11. ENBRIDGE owns 40% of both Green Mountain Power and Vermont Gas Systems, making it an active energy power right here in Vermont.

STOP LINE 3

Wars, occupations, economic crisis, and climate change are driving people from their homes all over the world. Instead of being welcome with open arms, the world’s governments, especially the US, have built elaborate border regimes to block people’s flight to safety. Join us for this webinar with speakers on Afghanistan, Haiti, Palestine, and Mexico. Learn about the issues and how you can take action for migrant justice here in Vermont and across the world.

Community Voices for Immigrant Rights is a grassroots community organization based in Burlington, VT working to fight for immigrant rights in support of and collaboration with immigrant-led groups.